I wrote a blogpost with a short reflection on what I see as the main dissimilarity between sports and religion, namely the apparent inability of sports today to criticize existing social structures. Sport events seem to have fallen under the spell of that one narrative that, after the fall of ‘grand narratives’, hidden behind the theater drapes , seems to dictate the story lines of our society: the economy. Just look at what the FIFA World Cup 2014 has done for ordinary Brazilian people, and you will know what I mean.
You can read the blogpost here, on the Theological Anthropology Blog from the Research Group Anthropos.